Openings matter.

1: Case-in-point: The first day of Professor Sugata Roychowdhury’s accounting class at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

Sugata doesn’t lower his head and take attendance by reading off the names of the students.  Instead, he walks “around the room, holding eye contact with the seventy or so new students in the lecture hall, and, one by one, points at each student and states their (sometimes … continue reading

Holding an action-packed, upbeat, informative quarterly “All-Hands” meeting is a key driver of building an inspired and engaging workplace culture.

The quarterly rhythm is key.  At PCI, we believe it’s important to gather all of our associates together regularly to build cohesiveness and connection and to keep everyone informed on how we are doing as an organization.  

At PCI, we call the quarterly get-together the “Not The Typical Quarterly Business … continue reading

1: As a kid growing up, what were the best toys?

Someone else’s toys!

2: Who’s happier?  Lottery winners or paraplegics?

Trick question.  The answer is neither, according to the research of Harvard psychologist Daniel Gilbert.  In his popular TED talk, Dan tells us that if it happened over three months ago, major life traumas have little impact on our happiness.

The answers to both of these questions are examples of what social … continue reading

The balance sheet is a key component of any business.

We also have a personal balance sheet.  Yes, this includes our cash in the bank and investments.  But these financial assets aren’t our only assets.  We also have our strengths, our passions, our personality, our skills, our experiences, and our memories.  

This week we are exploring the power of gratitude to increase our happiness and success.  Yesterday we examined the … continue reading

I love this story…

It’s the early 1900’s and two shoe salesmen are sent to an undeveloped country to assess the opportunity. One sends a telegraph back home: “Situation hopeless. They don’t wear shoes.”

The other wires: “Glorious Opportunity. They don’t wear shoes!”

In The Happiness Advantage, Shawn Achor labels these patterns of thinking “The Tetris Effect” after the 1980s video game. The research shows (yes, someone studied this…), that if we play Tetris … continue reading